Arsenal icon Thierry Henry will lead a glittering list of former stars to take part in the first Over-35 World Cup to be held in England this summer, with the current Premier League side tipped as a potential venue.
Newcastle’s St James’s Park has been tipped as a potential venue for this summer’s inaugural Over 35 World Cup.
The tournament, which will feature many soccer legends competing against each other, will be held in the UK. It will be held in June after the Champions League final and is expected to be completed by the start of the Euros. The tournament itself is still in the planning stages and a venue has not yet been decided, but there are leading candidates to host the matches. According to the Mail Online, St James’s Park is currently the preferred venue.
The competition will be organized by the Elite Players Group (EPG), a group of former footballers and sports businessmen, and will be known as the EPG Cup. EPG chairman Matias Sarasola told Mail Online:
“There has never been an event of this kind with 144 former players in the same tournament. I wanted to start a category.
“We want to fill the stadium, so we’re going to make the ticket prices the lowest possible. We want to give the whole city the opportunity to go to the stadium. We want to make it as inclusive as possible. I am thinking of doing so.”
“We are starting with this event, but we want to grow. Tennis and golf have senior and master categories, and we are creating them. They want to extend their professional longevity because it gives them the opportunity to continue competing.
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“The most important thing is that they all want to play for glory. When you’re with former players, they say they want to play again, but not just in exhibition matches. They want to win I want to play.”
As it stands, the tournament will consist of eight teams made up of former World Cup winners. This includes not only England and Spain, but also multiple champions Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay.
The full roster for the tournament has not yet been announced, but a number of star players have already opted out. Arsenal icon Thierry Henry will join Christian Kalembeu and Marcel Desailly in the French side.
Kaka, Ronaldinho, Cafu and Rivaldo are all set to represent Brazil. The England team is made up of notable players including Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard. A player is only eligible to play if he is over the age of 35 and must have earned a cap for his country or made at least 100 appearances in the top flight.
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